Connecticut pediatrician launches health websiteA Connecticut physician known as the “Dr. Spock of Korea” has created an expanded 20,000-page website that offers pediatric health advice for 80 million Korean-speaking people throughout the world.The site, formally launched in October, has been a labor of love for retired Dr. John Sangwon Lee of Willimantic, Conn., USA, who has devoted at least 10 hours a day to the project, which focuses on children’s medical care and parenting. It is written in Korean.It has been created in a way that is easy to access and understand. There are thousands of illustrations that help explain the subject matter.The website is http://www.koreapediatrics.com/.The following are some of the subjects included: emergency medical care, breast feeding, infectious disease, respiratory, cardiovascular and digestive system diseases, teeth diseases, pregnancy and child care, how to love your children, allergy and autoimmune diseases, among many other topics.“I am delighted to introduce you to a website that is designed for Koreans, in clear and concise language, to understand, recognize symptoms, and treat illnesses,” Lee says. “Most of the written material that is available can be understood only by doctors, nurses and others in the medical profession.”The website is an expanded and updated version of what Lee has made available to the public for more than 10 years. Over that time, Lee says, several million people accessed the site. The old edition contained about eight thousand pages while the new one has more than double that amount.Lee says people shouldn’t be scared off by the size of the site. He emphasizes that subject matter is easy to find and, once accessed, can be understood by the average person.Although the new website officially opened in October, he says, it actually has been up and running since July. He says between 600 and 700 people are visiting the site daily. During a recent three-month period nearly 50,000 people logged onto the site.Lee, 76, is a renowned author in his native Korean language. Among his many accomplishments is writing the first Korean encyclopedia on pediatrics on parenting. One of his books is titled, “Home Care For Newborns, Infants, Children and Adolescents.”Lee is a native of Susan, Chungnam, South Korea. He received his medical degree in 1963 from Yonsei University Medical College in Seoul. Five years later he traveled to the United States to complete his internship at Manchester Memorial Hospital in Connecticut. He completed his pediatric residency at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. After working at the Yale University College of Medicine and Norwalk Hospital. He opened his Willimantic office in 1973 and operated it until he retired in 2001.Almost immediately, he started to develop his website on pediatrics. His wife, Chunja, says he works long hours, even on weekends,Hide message historyIn Willimantic he became known as the pediatrician who wouldn’t refuse a patient, regardless of financial status. He says that when he retired he was owed more than $200,000 on the books, but he didn’t collect any of it.The office in his modest home on Pigeon Road in Willimantic is filled with books, folders filled with medical papers, and reams of research material. In fact, his library spills over into an adjoining room.Officially he is retired, but in actuality he works overtime.The first edition of the website was made available free of charge. The new one has a minimal annual fee, with much of it going to operate, maintain and update the content.“The motivation for my work has not been money,” he says. “I do it to help people who need medical advice in their lives. It has been my honor to serve the people.”He hopes the website is being used by those living in the communist, isolated nation of North Korea, where access to the Internet has been severely restricted.He says he knows the information he has made available has helped millions of Korean-speaking people throughout the world. He adds, however, that while sound medical advice and recommended treatment often is all that is needed, a person should visit a pediatrician when common sense suggests it is the right thing to do.“Stan
